Provisioning-Based Launching
November 18th, 2024 Update: Carriers are now imposing fines and filtering on unregistered texting traffic and will soon block it entirely. This includes any text messages sent on a phone number before provisioning is completed. To ensure message delivery, GetThru implemented Provisioning-Based Launching for ThruText Campaigns. With this update, texting campaigns will remain in the "launching" status until the phone number has completed provisioning. While a campaign is launching, it can be found on the Draft Campaigns Index page. If provisioning fails, the campaign will remain in draft status with a "provisioning failed" indicator, requiring it to be cloned or recreated. When provisioning completes, the person who launched the campaign will receive a notification email, and senders will also receive their assignment emails.
Admins can see the status of a phone number's provisioning for each dedicated and single-use number. This article explains provisioning-based launching and provides best practices for managing that process.
NOTE - A dedicated phone number only needs to go through the provisioning process once - when it is first created. Campaigns can be launched using a provisioned dedicated phone number without the delay in launching due to provisioning-based launching.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What is phone number provisioning?
- How long does provisioning take?
- Why can't I send messages on an unprovisioned number?
- How to accommodate the provisioning process?
- How do I know what status my phone number is in?
What is phone number provisioning?
When you obtain a dedicated number or launch a ThruText campaign using a single-use number, we purchase a sending phone number based on the area code preferences you provide. As a part of 10DLC, our provider confirms with the major cell phone carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) that this phone number is associated with your brand registration and use case. This process is called "Provisioning," and it amounts to the carriers giving us a 'thumbs up' that your sending phone number is ready for use. Once we get that provisioning 'thumbs up,' we change your provisioning status from "Provisioning Initiated" to "Provisioning Complete."
How long does provisioning take?
In some cases, the provisioning process takes less than 10 minutes, but on busy weekday afternoons, it can take as long as multiple hours. On rare occasions, it can take multiple days. While the phone number is provisioning, it cannot be used to send messages. Admins can refer to the Provisioning flags to check if their phone number has completed provisioning.
- Dedicated numbers cannot be added to a campaign during the provisioning process. Once the provisioning has been completed, they are available in the Dedicated Phone number drop-down.
- For single-use numbers, the campaign will remain in the "Launching" state until it has finished provisioning. Launching campaigns can be found on the draft page. After the process has been completed, the campaign will then become active.
As an alternative to launching a new campaign with a single-use phone number, admins can choose to launch Followup campaigns that do not require additional provisioning time. The audience is restricted to the contact list of the original campaign, but through advanced targeting, contacts can be removed from the Followup.
Why can't I send messages on an unprovisioned number?
Due to recent carrier changes, sending messages on an unprovisioned number is equitable to sending messages on an unregistered number. There is a much higher risk that messages will be delivered at lower-than-normal rates. Additionally, since August 2024, there has been a significant increase in the fees associated with messaging on unprovisioned numbers.
How to accommodate the provisioning process?
The best way to avoid long provisioning times is to create a dedicated number for your ThruText account. Admins can skip provisioning-based launching wait times once the dedicated number has been provisioned.
Campaigns using single-use numbers
To ensure your ThruText campaign is ready for texting with a single-use phone number on time, create your campaign the day before you plan to text. The "provisioning" process is largely US-based, so the queue tends to be shorter overnight. Launching the campaign beforehand takes advantage of those shorter "provisioning" queues.
If you launch campaigns the day before, ensure your campaign's "initial message sending window," also known as Start Date, aligns with when you want the messages to go out. This way, users added before launching can't text until you want them to. If your texting plans change, you can edit the Start Date. Here are some additional tips for launching campaigns the day before:
Campaign Pre-loading
Campaigns do not need to be launched with senders attached. By using Campaign Pre-loading, senders can be added after a campaign has become "Active." Campaign Pre-loading is the preferred setup for using Self Assign, as all messages remain 'Unassigned,' which acts as a pool for the Self Assign feature. To save time adding senders, use the Campaign Invite Link.
Campaign Invite Link
When enabled, the ThruText Campaign Invite Link generates a campaign-specific link you can share and toggle on/off at any point. When users click the link, they are navigated directly to their assignment in the messenger. Used with Self Assign, this is a powerful tool to make message senders self-sufficient.
Texter Self Assign
Self Assign in ThruText allows message senders who have already been added to a campaign to assign themselves batches of messages from 'Unassigned.' The Self Assign feature is optional (default state is 'off,') can be toggled on and off in draft or active campaigns and has adjustable batch sizes.
How do I know what status my phone number is in?
Dedicated numbers
Looking at the Phone Numbers page, you can see each phone number's provisioning status:
NOTE - Dedicated phone numbers will not be available in the campaign creation drop-down until they have completed provisioning with the green status flag.
Single-use numbers
The campaign's Details page shows the phone number's provisioning status at the top.
A yellow "Provisioning Initiated" status flag indicates that the phone number has not yet finished provisioning and cannot be used to send messages. When a phone number has finished provisioning, GetThru will send a notification email to the admin that launched the campaign.
A green "Provisioning Complete" status flag shows that the phone number is ready to go!
A red "Provisioning Failed" status flag means that your campaign could not be provisioned with all carriers. GetThru will reattempt provisioning five times before the campaign returns to a draft state. An email notifying the user who launched the campaign of the failure will be sent. You can find this campaign in the campaign draft section.
A campaign that has failed to provision will be in draft status and have a provisioning failed flag in the phone number section under the area code. This failure means the system attempted to provision the number for 5 attempts, but the number still failed. This campaign will be unusable and a new number will need to be provisioned. To start over, a new campaign will need to be launched. Please reach out to [email protected] for help cloning the draft campaign.
NOTE - If your use case has more than 49 numbers, setting up new campaigns will be unsuccessful. If you encounter any campaigns marked as "Provisioning Failed" and your organization is currently running many active single-use campaigns, consider archiving any unused single-use campaigns before you try to clone an existing campaign.
See our Blog Post You Can Now See Phone Number Provisioning Status for ThruText Campaigns for analysis on why waiting to send messages until your number is fully provisioned will increase deliverability.